Fab Fridays 77: Gratitude

Gratitude, Gamified Learning, and Synthesis

Nov 26, 2021

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to thank you all for supporting my work, sharing your ideas, and helping me become a better thinker and person.

I’m grateful for every single one of you!

This week I’m borrowing from James Clear’s 3-2-1 Newsletter format: Below are 3 short reads to enjoy this Thanksgiving holiday, 2 podcasts, and 1 video (+ one exciting update on Synthesis!)

3 Thanksgiving Reads

A Simple Daily Habit to Add More Gratitude to Your Life by James Clear

James shares a simple, yet powerful habit to live out gratitude on a daily basis and what it can do for your long-term happiness.

“The individual impact of any one piece of gratitude is small, but the cumulative effect is huge.” — James Clear
Thankful for What Didn't Happen by Morgan Housel

In addition to being grateful for the obvious, Morgan invites us to pay attention to the things that could or should have happened, but didn’t.
A Thanksgiving Reader by Seth Godin

A beautifully written PDF that will get you thinking about Thanksgiving in a new light. You can add this activity to your holiday tradition!

“At its best, this is a holiday about gratitude, about family and about possibility.”— Seth Godin

Seth invites us to celebrate the people in our lives who give us the support and love we need to make a difference, and the opportunity to build something bigger than ourselves, something worth contributing to.

2 Podcasts

Infinite Loops Podcast with Jim O'Shaughnessy: Gamification of Learning

I’m so excited to share my conversation with Jim O'Shaughnessy— my favorite one yet!

We talked about the idea and implementation of Synthesis School, how to increase engagement and ownership among students, some of the problems with the traditional education system, how schools crush creativity and what we can do about it, and the beginning of the end of the existing educational system.

You can listen to this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and other platforms here.

The Disruptors Podcast with Sean Johnson: Synthesis, The SpaceX Lab School, and The Future of Education

I had a wonderful conversation with Sean Johnson and Chrisman Frank about the origins of Synthesis, why games are such a fantastic modality for facilitating learning, how to teach kids how to think, and the importance of competition in learning.

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other platforms here.

Thanks for tuning in!

1 Video

We recently launched a new game at Synthesis called Rubicon!

Rubicon used to be part of the application to get into Ad Astra, the school Elon Musk and Synthesis co-founder Josh Dahn created at SpaceX. We designed a version of this game that you can try for free so you get a taste of the Synthesis experience.

Keep in mind that this is one of our most challenging games. Not everyone at Synthesis has figured it out yet, so don’t get discouraged if you can’t either! The point is to experience what it’s like to play with no instructions, and see what you learn about yourself as you try to beat Baby Julius. Let me know if you are able to figure it out! It took me… a WHILE.

You can try Rubicon today at rubicon.synthesis.is

Update on Synthesis

The company has seen a tremendous amount of growth, largely driven by everyone on this list. (THANK YOU!)

As a result, we now get more student applications than we have teachers to fill them. So we’ve moved to a first-come first-served reservation system. Even if your child isn’t 7-14 and technically eligible for synthesis, you can reserve your spot for them early with a refundable deposit.

If this sounds interesting, you can reserve your spot here.

Enjoy the holidays with your loved ones!

Until next week,

Ana Lorena Fabrega

Fab Fridays